Like any business, January is a busy time for us. There are many misconceptions people haver about farmers, especially seasonal ones like ourselves; the crops are seasonal but the work is not.

January means we are done resting from harvest and it is time to close the old and start anew.  This means we are finishing up all the bookwork: Taxes, payroll, finances, etc. We are making new goals and assessing the old.

Out on the farm we are repairing and CLEANING. Because we are dragging this piece of land into the future there is so much we have to do; from continuously disposing of the past, things that we no longer need or never needed for that matter, to making room for the future.

Take for instance a trailer load of antique or old tv’s. There tv’s come from four different lifetimes.  That’s right, my family has held onto four generations of stuff. I am sure there are other families out there like this. You see, the previous generation came from a time of struggle and hard work.  Every single thing had/has a value and to through something in the trash means throwing out bundles of money. There are plenty of arguments that can be made for this type of thinking, and I totally understand it, however new generation and new thought.

We really are grateful for all the previous generation has done to pave the way for us, however it is time to lighten the load, purge the stuff and create a life of simplicity, less stuff, and more value in the now and the lives around us; FAMILY!

This is just one more trailer load of weight off out shoulders. One more trailer load of space or square footage that we can use to move forward. You may ask how the last generation feels about this purge….They are still reacting and learning to let go. It is not an easy thing for them, and will never be. We can only ask that they trust us. They did help create the forward thinkers that we are today, go figure.

This is trailer is a drop in the bucket from how many trailers we have already disposed of and how many more we will dispose of. Carry on.

As mentioned, January is also machine work time. Time to repair all those things that broke during and before harvest. We have plenty of engines laying around that need some attention. Above, the latest generation farmer is exasperated after his morning of repair work. Start em’ young!

Mechanic is just another word for farmer.  If you are going to be a farmer, that you have to know how to fix stuff. Sadly I am lacking in this area, but hopefully after all the lectures I get along the way from my brother, I will learn something. Can you say Jill of all trades?

 

It is winter here at Kucek Family Farms and we are as busy as ever. But in between, we still fine time to stop and enjoy the view. Let the above picture carry your imagination away. It is as lovely as you can imagine, just a little chillier.